The Yorkshire-born director of the hit Harry Potter play has dedicated his OBE to his working class roots.

John Tiffany opened Harry Potter And The Cursed Child in London in July 2016, having worked alongside the book’s original author JK Rowling, and the production is due to open on Broadway next month.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened in London in July 2016. Picture by Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.

After receiving his medal for services to drama at Buckingham Palace yesterday, Marsden-born Mr Tiffany, 47, said: “It’s just wonderful. Coming from a working class family in Huddersfield, this was never on the cards. For the community there, everyone who has supported me, this is for them.

JK Rowling, the writer of the original Harry Potter books, was said to be delighted by John Tiffany's OBE. Picture by Yui Mok/PA Wire.

Mr Tiffany was six months into a biology course at Glasgow University in 1990 when he switched to drama and classics after being inspired by the City of Culture festival being held there.

“I started to see all this work by directors like Peter Brook and I instantly thought I just want to do this. So I changed course,” he said.

“It was terrifying because I only thought you could do drama and music as a hobby where I came from. My dad played in a brass band and my mum was a chorus girl, but the idea of doing that as a job was just terrifying. I just never thought I could.”